Book Launch “The TOI Story “
22122013
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Woodpecker Film Festival award night
22122013
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Thailand’s opposition party to boycott Feb 2 polls
22122013
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Thailand’s main opposition Democrat Party on Saturday decided to boycott the February 2 snap polls and join anti-government rallies seeking to force Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra out of office.
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Facing continuous street protests led by former Democrat leader Suthep Thaugsuban, Yingluck dissolved parliament and called an early poll on December 9 to try to ease tensions.
But the opposition is determined to replace her government with an unelected “People’s Council”.
“The meeting of party executives and former party lawmakers resolved that the Democrat Party will not send candidates to contest in the February 2, 2014 general election,” Democrat leader and former premier Abhisit Vejjajiva said.
“We don’t believe the February 2 election will lead to true reform and restore public confidence in the system.”
Democrat Party lawmakers resigned en masse from parliament earlier this month to march with former deputy premier Suthep.
They plan to hold mass rallies at sites across the capital tomorrow. The Thai Election Commission, however, said the February polls would go ahead as planned and registration of candidates will start on Monday.
Yingluck, who protesters accuse of acting as a proxy for her fugitive brother and former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, has promised to set up a “people’s council” for political reform after the elections.
She urged all political parties to contest the polls in order to uphold the rule of law and ensure reforms through the parliamentary system.
“The government realises that the country needs to be reformed. However, the reforms should run in line with democratic principals,” Yingluck said in a televised address.
Yingluck’s troubles escalated in November when her Pheu Thai Party tried to push an amnesty bill that would have nullified the graft conviction of her brother Thaksin. Thaksin was toppled in a 2006 coup and remains highly influential, despite having lived in self-exile since 2008.
Meanwhile, the chief of the powerful army, Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, expressed concern about the risk of civil war if the political conflict continues.
He proposed the formation of a people’s assembly comprising “all colours” to help heal the divide.
The army chief stressed that the proposed assembly would bear little resemblance to the “People’s Council” proposed by Suthep.
“The people’s assembly must not be organised or sponsored by any conflicting group, as it would not be accepted by the other side,” he said.
At least five persons died and hundreds were injured during anti-government protests in Thailand’s worst political turmoil since the 2010 rallies that swept Abhisit from power.
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Updated on : 22-12-2013 08:43 AMComments : Leave a Comment »
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Corruption biggest issue, inflation primary challenge: Rahul
22122013
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Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday addressed industry body FICCI in New Delhi and said that the biggest issue today is corruption and it is bleeding people and is unacceptable.
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Interacting with business leaders in New Delhi and responding to their concerns, the Congress Vice President favoured rule-based system in clearances to correct the situation and accountability to be clear and time bound.Asserting that the UPA government was committed to deal with corruption and push growth, he outlined the steps taken by the UPA government, including enactment of Lokpal, to combat graft.
Gandhi talked about the problems of inflation, clearances, accountability and transparency while underlining the need for pushing the growth to alleviate poverty and making the country the largest economy by the time it turns 100 years old.
“I am in complete agreement with the need for regulatory system to be rapidly and radically modernised. Frankly, there are no excuses for the length of time required to clear some of these projects. We are fast-moving economy. We cannot allow you to be held back by slow decision-making. Accountability has to be clear, fixed and time-bound,” he said addressing the FICCI Annual General Meeting.
“The biggest problem is absolute arbitrary powers at all levels of the system. This is what we face.. In India, there are lot of arbitrary powers. The Environment Minister or the Chief Minister can take any decision he wants,” he said while responding to concerns of the industry that clearances were holding up projects.
“The real issue in all these things, whether land acquisition or environment it is arbitrary power,” Gandhi said, while advocating the need for eliminating the system of arbitrary powers.
He said the “paradigm” in the country has changed and in this scenario, “we have to build rule-based structure… we have to get used to the new paradigm. We have to move away from the arbitrary idea that a Chief Minister and an Environment Minister can do anything.”
Flagging the concerns over price rise, which Congress attributed as one of the reasons for the party’s debacle in recent assembly elections, Gandhi said that beating inflation is top priority.
“High inflation on the back of high food prices is an immediate concern. It has stretched household budgets and constrained industrial growth. It hurts our people everyday. Beating inflation is our top priority”.
“We must crack down on hoarding and profiteering. We must ease infrastructure bottlenecks and rapidly modernise the supply chain from field to plate,” he said.
Gandhi also chose the occasion to claim that it was the UPA government which did the maximum to fight corruption, which he termed as an “unacceptable burden on the people of our nation”.
“Corruption is bleeding our people dry. It is an unacceptable burden on the people of our nation. We must fight corruption with all our strength and determination,” he said but asserted “this government has done more than any other government to combat corruption…. The Congress Party has developed a framework against corruption.”
Noting that the passage of Right to Information Act by the UPA has been the most powerful weapon in the fight against corruption, he said, “the power of information is finally in the hands of the people. This has created a paradigm shift. Few governments have had the courage to enact legislation that rendered their processes more transparent and open to scrutiny.”
Gandhi added that he was proud to say that the RTI has shown all concerned “the writing on the wall and, in some cases, it has shown them the wall of Tihar Jail!”
He listed in this regard the steps like rejecting the Ordinance to overturn a court verdict that held that convicted criminals be kept out of Parliament and assembly and passage of Lokpal Bill but added “we need to go further.”
Gandhi said that the passage of six anti-corruption bills is critical to fight corruption.
He felt that while the amendment to the Prevention of Corruption Act will protect honest officers and be much more effective against those who are corrupt, the Grievance Redressal Bill will ensure that every citizen has the right to timely delivery of goods and services by their government.
Noting the “frustration” of the industry with regard to environmental clearances delaying projects unduly, Gandhi acknowledged that “there is excessive administrative and judicial discretion. The loopholes are so big you can drive a truck through some of them”.
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Updated on : 22-12-2013 08:08 AM
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बजरंग दल के हिन्दू युवा सम्मलेन की तैयारियां पूरी
22122013
आज दिल्ली के शिवाजी कालेज के सामने जुटेंगे हजारों बजरंगी
नई दिल्ली। दिसम्बर 21, 2013. विश्व हिन्दू परिषद दिल्ली की युवा इकाई बजरंग दल द्वारा दिल्ली में आयोजित किए जाने वाले एक विशाल हिन्दू युवा सम्मेलन की सभी तैयारियां पूरी कर ली गईं हैं। बजरंग दल के प्रांत संयोजक श्री शिव कुमार ने बताया कि राजधानी के शिवाजी कालेज के सामने स्थित सांवरिया ग्राउण्ड राजा गार्डन में आयोजित किए जाने बाले इस विराट सम्मलेन में दिल्ली भर के हजारों बजरंग दल कार्यकर्ता जुटेंगे तथा हिन्दू समाज पर हो रहे चहुं मुखी हमलों के विरुद्ध अपनी आवाज बुलंद करेंगे।
विस्तृत जानकारी देते जुए विहिप दिल्ली के मीडिया प्रमुख श्री विनोद बंसल ने बताया कि बड़ी संख्या में जुटने वाले जन समुदाय को बजरंग दल के राष्ट्रीय संयोजक श्री राजेश पाण्डे व विहिप के केन्द्रीय मंत्री डा सुरेन्द्र जैन सम्वोधित करेंगे। रविवार दिनांक 22 दिसंबर को दोपहर 2बजे से होने वाले इस सम्मलेन में विहिप व बजरंग दल के विविध पदाधिकारियों के अलावा अनेक साधू-संत भी भाग लेंगे।
भवदीय
विनोद बंसल,
मीडिया प्रमुख,
इंद्र्प्रस्थ विश्व हिंदू परिषद,
नई दिल्ली. मो – 9810949109
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